1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to so-called IoT (Internet of Things) in which a plurality of devices cooperate to realize a desired device and to an information terminal apparatus, an information acquisition apparatus, an information support method, and a recording medium recording an information support program for executing necessary information processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a portable information terminal, such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, and a notebook PC, and other devices cooperate with each other, and a technique of centralization of remote operation and information management as well as device control beyond various past restrictions has been explored.
While the number of devices that can communicate is increasing, sensors, cameras, and the like included in a portable information terminal have also evolved with an operation section and a display section. Optimization of a device used in an environment of the IoT is an important issue.
In such an environment, a smartphone, a tablet PC, and the like also function as control devices and act like remote controls for operating other devices wirelessly or through wires. A touch panel or the like provided on a display section can be utilized to remotely operate other devices or to collect information from other devices. Therefore, quick connection and start of function are important factors of the technique.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2013-115828 discloses a technique of exchanging device information for communication connection through contact with a specific device to control a short-range communication module that communicates with the specific device based on the exchanged device information. The technique can be utilized to also control a lens-type camera by a smartphone or the like.
In recent years, portable devices with photographing functions (photographing apparatuses), such as digital cameras, have been widely used. Some of the photographing apparatuses of this type include display sections and have functions for displaying photographed images. In some of the photographing apparatuses, menu screens are displayed on display sections to facilitate operation of the photographing apparatuses. The display sections are often provided on back sides of portable device bodies, and at photographing, users can perform photographing operation while checking through images displayed on the display sections on the back sides.
In recent years, a lens-type camera not including a display section of a picked-up image and having only photographing and recording functions has been adopted in some cases. The lens-type camera of this type is generally attached to a smartphone, a tablet PC, or the like, and the smartphone, the tablet PC, or the like mounted with the lens-type camera serves as a control device to control photographing. The control device, such as the smartphone and the tablet PC, also functions as an image pickup display apparatus that displays a picked-up image from the lens-type camera.
The control device, such as the smartphone and the tablet PC, is connected to the lens-type camera through wireless or wired communication, and a touch panel or the like provided on a display section can be utilized to perform photographing operation of the lens-type camera.
By the way, a communication module corresponding to a short-range wireless standard, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), can be utilized to control a cooperative device, such as a lens-type camera, by a smartphone or the like. However, when a communication capacity is large such as in image transfer, a communication module corresponding to a standard with a relatively high transfer rate, such as WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), is often adopted. In addition, a plurality of communications with different communication capacities, such as infrared communication and LTE, are adopted.